Psychopomp (Havoc)

1/30/2017

Psychopomp is Havoc Mead's sour cherry mead and, due to the fact that they use fermentation cherries from Poland, is difficult to replicate at home. But, when has that stopped a homebrewer from trying?

Psychopomp Clone Recipe
5 Gallon/19L
OG = 1.050
FG = .998
ABV = 6.9% abv.

Ingredients:

6.75 lbs Raw Wildflower Honey
1/2 Gallon Sour Cherry Juice
4 Gallons Water
1 oz. Wyeast Wine Yeast Nutrient
5 Campden Tablets (if desired)
5 packets Lalvin D-47 yeast

Step by Step
Combine the first five ingredients at 104°F (40°C) stirring vigorously to aerate.
Wait 24 hours for the sulfites to do their thing, then sprinkle the dry yeast over the top of the must.
Maintain the fermentation at about 88°F (31°C).
Vigorously degas your mead before carbonating. This is absolutely essential to prevent your final product from smelling like eggs.
Bottle (with priming sugar) or keg when bubbling has completely stopped (should be 8-10 days).
Enjoy in a week or two!

For general brewing principles and practices please visit our article: How We Brew Everything We Brew

Don't want to wait? You can order this mead online and have it shipped right to your door in most of the US!

12 Comments

Mike

11/5/2017 01:01:02 pm

How would one degas the mead? Swirling carboy? Stirring with a wine whip or spoon? Would bubbling CO2 through pull out the H2S?
Thanks!

Kelly

11/13/2017 03:37:03 pm

Hi Mike,

All of the above would work! Gently rock the carboy back and forth is a great method that has minimal risk of introducing oxygen. Bubbling CO2 through the liquid is what we do in our facility, but that can be a bit trickier to do on a homebrew setup!

Jules

9/23/2018 02:46:08 pm

Mike,

I'm setting up to make this recipe but concerned about the high temp for the D47. Lots of discussion not to raise the temp too high when using this yeast. Is it possible to do this recipe around <21C or do you recommend pumping it up to 30?

Shawn WW link

3/9/2019 05:22:15 pm

Why so much yeast? This would be 25g for a 5L batch. When I brew wine it’s 5g for 23L and for beer 10-12g for 23L. This feels like a lot of yeast.

Also - can I use Lelvin EC-1118? I have that on hand. Just checking. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

3/11/2019 11:49:28 am

Hi Shawn,

The more healthy yeast you have in your initial fermentation, the better! This is how much yeast per gallon we use in our commercial facility. For a more in-depth look at how we brew, check out this article: https://www.groennfell.com/blog/making-mead-at-home-an-incredibly-contentious-article

We also don't recommend using EC-1118 (except to rescue a stuck fermentation) since it tends to strip flavors. You'll end up scrubbing out all the lovely flavors from your honey. Our go-to is Lalvin D-47, but we've had luck with lots of other strains as well.

Happy meadmaking!
Cheers,
Kelly

CKuhns

3/21/2019 05:36:20 pm

Thanks so much for sharing these recipe's.

Created this Psychopomp recipe with a couple of "tweaks". Used Omega Hot-Head Yeast and another half gallon more Cherry juice. Primary fermentation from a SG of 1.051 took 8 days at 88 Deg F removed the heat and allowed it to settle for an additional 7.

Taste is great non-carbonated no sulfur (H2S) or hot alcohol tastes and exactly what I was looking for. Rounded it out nicely with a little vanilla. It will be very good once kegged and carbonated.

3/25/2019 01:53:32 pm

Nice! Thanks for sharing your technique - I'm glad it turned out well! The vanilla is a great idea!
Cheers,
Kelly the Boss

Cory

7/22/2019 10:52:09 pm

Ours came out tart, no honey or cherry flavor, just dry and tart. Not sure what went wrong.Hopefully can back sweeten some how. Cheers

Ricky the Meadmaker

7/25/2019 07:35:59 am

Hi Cory,

A lot of that comes down to the exact type of cherry juice you're using. I'd recommend either back sweetening, as you suggest, or using less cherry juice next time you brew it to try to balance the honey and the fruit flavors.

Good luck,
Ricky

Pedro

8/16/2021 12:39:58 pm

Would would the gas result in an egg smell??

8/24/2021 11:46:29 am

Hydrogen Sulfide is a natural byproduct of fermentation, especially with honey and certain fruit. If you notice an egg smell in your mead, degassing can help knock the Hydrogen Sulfide out of solution. For more info, check out our article here: https://www.groennfell.com/blog/oh-christ-whats-that-smell

Cheers,
Kelly

8/24/2021 12:20:25 pm

Cheers, that's helpful! Started my first mead now and have been swirling it, hope it's enough

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Psychopomp (Havoc)

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